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Amalthus
Amalthus (Japanese: , Marubēni) is a character in Xenoblade Chronicles 2. He is the Praetor of Indol. He is extremely old, despite appearances, and is the Driver of Fan la Norne and Cole. He is also the Driver of Malos, making him the Driver of an Aegis. Story Early life When Amalthus was a child, he and his mother were forced to flee from a group of men. His mother, rather than leave him in the hands of the men chasing them, pushes him down a steep hill where they would not search for him. He eventually awakens and stumbles through the woods until he comes to the mens' camp, where he finds his mother's dead body. Devastated and enraged, he uses a rock to kill the men as they sleep. Climbing the World Tree Years later, Amalthus travels around Alrest as an Indoline Quaestor, helping refugees and spreading Indol's philosophies. He also becomes the Driver of Minoth, who becomes a Flesh Eater. At one point, he helps heal a soldier only to bear witness to him robbing a home; the soldier kills one person, and is about to kill another when Amalthus intervenes, killing the soldier and rescuing the baby that was in the house. The event leaves him wondering if the world was truly as the Architect had intended for it to be. His conclusion leads him to equate life on Alrest to hell; the idea disgusts Minoth, who actively avoids contact with Amalthus for over two years following the incident. Hoping to find answers and meet the Architect, Amalthus became the first person to climb the World Tree; he managed to reach Elysium, but he found it empty. He took the Core Crystals of Malos and Mythra and returned to Alrest as proof of his deed. Back at Indol, he awoke Malos. Due to Amalthus' hatred of the world, Malos was filled with similar sentiments. Aegis War Indol eventually declares war on the nation of Coeia, and Malos' involvement in the battle leads to the Coeian Titan sinking beneath the Cloud Sea; however, Malos regains full control of his powers, allowing him to leave Amalthus and destroy the rest of humanity. Knowing he could not control either of the Aegises, Amalthus decides to find someone who could use the other core and send them after Malos. He travels to the Kingdom of Torna, where High Prince Zettar unsuccessfully attempts to awaken Mythra. Addam is able to awaken Mythra, and they fight against Malos in the Aegis War. Malos was defeated, and eventually Amalthus becomes Praetor of the Indoline Praetorium by assassinating then-Praetor Rhadallis via poison. He then gets a Flesh Eater to kill Magister Baltrich, his main opponent in Indol. He begins to gather all the Core Crystals that he could and makes it illegal for Drivers to be unregistered with the Praetorium. After the war, he ambushes Spessia in an effort to destroy Mythra, leading to the demise of the remaining members of the Kingdom of Torna. Amalthus used refugees from Torna to create Blade Eaters by fusing children with Core Crystals. The refugees are later slaughtered to keep the practice a secret, with Mikhail being the only survivor. He also discovers Haze's Core Crystal and becomes her new Driver, giving her the new identity of Fan la Norne, the Goddess of the Praetorium. He then absorbs half of her Core Crystal, becoming a Blade Eater. Zeke and Pandoria Five centuries after the war, the Aegis is reawakened thanks to the new Torna. Amalthus finds Pandoria and a nearly-dead Zeke, and takes them in. He is able to save Zeke by transferring a portion of Pandoria's Core Crystal into his body, making him a Blade Eater. In return, Zeke becomes a special envoy for Indol with the goal to seek out the new Driver of the Aegis and bring him or her back to Indol. In a conversation with Amalthus, Zeke states that killing is a sign of weakness, but Amalthus challenges this and reveals his hatred for the world. Amalthus claims that people will try and forcibly take things denied from them. Zeke states that not everyone shares that belief and questions why Amalthus even allows refugees to stay in Indol. Amalthus replies by stating that it reminds him of the nature of humanity. Zeke finally questions if that is why he saved him and Pandoria, to which Amalthus answers that he was sadly reminded of his mother's sacrifice. Temperantia Cole, the new identity of Minoth, later gives Rex his old Gunknife, stating that his Driver will help them get to Elysium. Fan la Norne later travels with the party in order to take them to Indol where they meet with Amalthus. After hearing Rex's goal, Amalthus agrees to help him climb the World Tree. Mythra and Rex remains skeptical of his motives, but Amalthus claims he believes that someone like Rex could change the world. Their plans are cut short by Jin's attack in Temperantia. As Mor Ardain and Uraya are about to go to war, Amalthus intervenes and prevents further escalation. He then organizes a Ruler's Congress, where Queen Raqura learns that the Empire of Mor Ardain did not issue the attack. He reveals that it is the work of Torna, and that Malos is indeed still alive. The rulers then agree to lift the ban on traveling to the World Tree. Tantal Amalthus later sends Rex as a special envoy to Tantal with a message from the Praetorium. Indol had known of the Tantalese Royal Family's fraudulent claim of Addam's bloodline, and agreed to keep it secret in exchange for a regular supply of Core Chips. It is later revealed that in the correspondence, Amalthus threatened to reveal the secret if Tantal did not hand over the Omega Fetter, though his plan never comes to fruition. After hearing of Rex's defeat by Jin, he begins an unknown ceremony. World Tree Attack Amalthus has Indol outfitted with weaponry similar to that of Temperantia, and is able to fly the Titan to the World Tree in order to destroy Jin and Malos. He sends Indoline warrior monks to the tree to order Rex and Pyra to use the power of the Aegis to destroy the Tornan warship, but they refuse. After their defeat, Amalthus projects a hologram of himself to speak with the party directly, revealing that he had taken the other half of Fan la Norne's Core Crystal, making him able to use her power to weaken Blades and Titans. He then forces Mythra to summon Siren's power to destroy the Marsanes, declaring himself the Master Driver of the Master Blade, with the power to control every Blade and Titan in existence. With the help of his friends, however, Rex is able to break his control over them and continue up the tree. In desperation at not getting the Aegis under his control, he causes several Titans, namely Mor Ardain, Uraya, and Genbu, to release their ether energy at the World Tree, intent on destroying it and all of Alrest. With the help of Poppi α, Rex and Mythra are able to get close enough to destroy Amalthus' amplification towers on Indol with Siren. In anger, he shoots a massive energy blast at them, only to have it blocked by the Marsanes, piloted by Mikhail. Mikhail heroically sacrifices himself in a massive explosion that sinks Indol, allowing the party to continue after Jin and Malos. Battle and Death Amalthus survives Indol's death and is able to use all of the Core Crystals that he had "cleansed" over the centuries to grant himself immense power and transform into a huge, monstrous version of himself. He intercepts the party inside the World Tree after they have defeated Jin and kills Patroka, claiming his motivations for erasing all of the worthless things in existence to be the Architect's will. The party challenges this, and he eventually admits that he is afraid of change, fearing that if he changes, he will not be his true self anymore. Enraged over the idea of humans and Blades having bonds of friendship, he kills Akhos by tearing out his Core Crystal and fights the party. Still intent on meeting the Architect and erasing everything in the world himself after his defeat, he sends out his tendrils of energy to try and destroy the World Tree from the inside. Telling Rex to stop Malos, Jin releases all the power he has left, freezing Amalthus to the back wall. Zeke recalls his conversations with Amalthus and wonders how the same man filled with hatred could feel sadness back then. As Amalthus dies, he sees a vision of his mother coming down in a beam of light to greet him, and he fades out of existence. The Architect states that both him and Amalthus once sought to answer the question of who they really are, pushing both of them over the edge. As he lost faith in humanity, he did nothing to stop Amalthus from taking the Aegises down into Alrest, considering it fate that humans would destroy themselves. Battle Amalthus is fought as a boss at level 68 at Lv. 4, Megrez in the Upper Level of the World Tree. Arts Drops Etymology * Amalthus's name may be derived from the Reverend Thomas Malthus, a political economist and demographer, whose thoughts led to Malthusianism, which among other things advocates human population control in order to avoid population growth outstripping the growth and replenishment of resources, eventually leading to the destruction of society and the world. * His name may also refer to Amaltheia (Greek: Ἀμάλθεια, tender goddess), the foster-mother of Zeus in greek mythology. In some traditions, her skin was used to create the mythological shield Aegis. The third moon of Jupiter has been also named after her. Gallery Artwork XC2-Amalthus-Artwork.png|Official art XC2 - Amalthus TGC.png|Official Torna ~ The Golden Country art Amalthus Concept Art.PNG|Concept art of Amalthus Amalthus Concept Art (Young).PNG|Concept art of a younger Amalthus Xenoblade Chronicles 2 Screenshots XC2-Amalthus.png XC2-Amalthus-2.png Amalthus Boss.jpg|Amalthus in his Blade Eater form Amalthus changed form.jpg Torna ~ The Golden Country Screenshots TTGC Amalthus Screenshot 1.png TTGC Amalthus Screenshot 2.png Category:XC2 Male Characters Category:XC2 Supporting Characters Category:Indoline Category:Indoline Praetorium NPCs Category:Drivers Category:XC2 Antagonists Category:XC2 Bosses Category:World Tree Enemies Category:XC2 Level 66-70 Enemies Category:Driver Enemies Category:Indoline Loyalists Category:Blade Enemies Category:TTGC Antagonists